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"The hope which is laid up for you in heaven."
--Colossians 1:5
Our hope in Christ for the future is the mainspring and the
mainstay of our joy here. It will animate our hearts to think
often of heaven, for all that we can desire is promised there.
Here we are weary and toilworn, but yonder is the land of rest
where the sweat of labour shall no more bedew the worker's brow,
and fatigue shall be for ever banished. To those who are weary
and spent, the word "rest" is full of heaven. We are always in
the field of battle; we are so tempted within, and so molested
by foes without, that we have little or no peace; but in heaven
we shall enjoy the victory, when the banner shall be waved
aloft in triumph, and the sword shall be sheathed, and we shall
hear our Captain say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." We
have suffered bereavement after bereavement, but we are going to
the land of the immortal where graves are unknown things. Here
sin is a constant grief to us, but there we shall be perfectly
holy, for there shall by no means enter into that kingdom
anything which defileth. Hemlock springs not up in the furrows
of celestial fields. Oh! is it not joy, that you are not to be
in banishment for ever, that you are not to dwell eternally in
this wilderness, but shall soon inherit Canaan? Nevertheless let
it never be said of us, that we are dreaming about the future
and forgetting the present, let the future sanctify the
present to highest uses. Through the Spirit of God the hope of
heaven is the most potent force for the product of virtue; it is
a fountain of joyous effort, it is the corner stone of cheerful
holiness. The man who has this hope in him goes about his work
with vigour, for the joy of the Lord is his strength. He fights
against temptation with ardour, for the hope of the next world
repels the fiery darts of the adversary. He can labour without
present reward, for he looks for a reward in the world to come.
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